Salsa Cycles returned to the Sea Otter, after missing it last year and showcased brand new designs for the 26in steel A La Carte and the 29er steel El Mariachi bikes. They also showed a new road tourer called the Vaya.
The Vaya, with front mounted 'Downunder' lowrider rack.
The Vaya is like a road (and gravel road) version of the Fargo, as used by Mr Chipps to ride across the Pyrenees last summer. It won’t do mountain biking or ‘cross racing, but if your touring takes in gravel or ‘white’ roads as well as regular tarmac, you might like it.
This is the new Wanderlust rear rack, with a contoured top bed for sleeping bags/tents and mounts for panniers either high or low down.Bivvy riders take note. This is the new Salsa Minimalist rack. You can mount it front or rear, it's curved to take a sleeping bag and there are tabs for cinch straps too. Comes out late summer.Here's the Wanderlust in rear mode with mounting bolts incorporated into the very neat Salsa seat clamp
Got rack mounts? Then you can probably run this...
As mentioned, the A La Carte and big wheel El Mariachi have been loved up and revamped. Central to this revamp is a new swinging dropout that allows the bike to be run as a singlespeed, or a geared bike, without needing half links. It looks very close to the dropout seen on the Black Cat bikes but is presumably just different enough. There’s a new gusset under the downtube (with a big gap – armchair framebuilders please comment…) and some nice colours. Frames will come as frame only, not frame and forks as before, though you can get a colour-matched fork separately.
This new dropout is central to the new A La Carte and El MariachiHow's that for a gusset? The design jury is out on this one...'Ride and Smile' is dead, long live 'Adventure by bike'The Ti A La Carte keeps regular dropouts.Very vivid green then.
Swinging dropouts...A complicated way of dispensing with horizontal dropoutsThe 29er El Mariachi with optional matching fork
We did manage to miss the one Kona bike we wanted to see, which was the new prototype ‘cross bike – a Carbon Jake the Snake. Apparently Barry Wicks was so keen on it that he was out all morning warming up for the XC race on it…
As tested a couple of issues ago, the Abra Cadabra comes in at a great weight for the amount of travel.
Who said that Norco was all about jump bikes and big heavy freeride full sussers? Here’s Norco’s new steel 29er hardtail – and it completes the niche circle by being singlespeed and belt drive too…
Hit me with your niche-stick...Another Norco, this time it's a prototype... yes... 29er full suspension bike...
With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)
norco with proto reba 140mm fork….
interesting on the black cat style drops….the salsa’s seem to be sensible niche fillers – those racks look great…and i reckon a lot of people would love the vaya rather than running all sorts of steerer spacers….cheers chipps!
“A complicated way of dispensing with horizontal dropouts”
Its not really that complicated. Unlike ‘conventional’ sliding dropouts the brake caliper doesn’t need repositioning at all and ought to be a bit stiffer than other sliding dropout/caliper mount type setups?
“norco with proto reba 140mm fork…”
Isn’t that a 120mm Reba?
“How on Earth did they get that Kona so light?”
Its only got 10 gears. Adding 2 chainrings, 4 pairs chainring bolts/nuts, front mech, front shifter, cable, outer at XTR/XX level will probably still be under 1lb, the frame isn’t aluminium either, its a Scandium alloy. The rotors appear? to be 160/140mm lightweight versions, plus it appears to have a load of carbon XC race type bits on it too
If anything, I thought it should be less than that. An ibis mojo (yes ‘only’ 140mm) should build relatively easily (okay XTish level stuff) to 26ish lbs shouldn’t it?
norco with proto reba 140mm fork….
interesting on the black cat style drops….the salsa’s seem to be sensible niche fillers – those racks look great…and i reckon a lot of people would love the vaya rather than running all sorts of steerer spacers….cheers chipps!
How on Earth did they get that Kona so light? Under 25lbs for 6″ of travel?
That Norco singlespeed could turn me to the niche.
That post-mount dropout… nice idea to have post at the rear, but isn’t it heavy compared to an IS rear?
the gap in the gusset on the Salsa is to keep your rollies in
Not sure the ‘zip tie’ style lock on the last pic is the most secure!
“A complicated way of dispensing with horizontal dropouts”
Its not really that complicated. Unlike ‘conventional’ sliding dropouts the brake caliper doesn’t need repositioning at all and ought to be a bit stiffer than other sliding dropout/caliper mount type setups?
“norco with proto reba 140mm fork…”
Isn’t that a 120mm Reba?
“How on Earth did they get that Kona so light?”
Its only got 10 gears. Adding 2 chainrings, 4 pairs chainring bolts/nuts, front mech, front shifter, cable, outer at XTR/XX level will probably still be under 1lb, the frame isn’t aluminium either, its a Scandium alloy. The rotors appear? to be 160/140mm lightweight versions, plus it appears to have a load of carbon XC race type bits on it too
If anything, I thought it should be less than that. An ibis mojo (yes ‘only’ 140mm) should build relatively easily (okay XTish level stuff) to 26ish lbs shouldn’t it?
Really like the new Salsa dropouts – not unlike a certain custom US manufacturer and look simpler than my Voodoo
El Mariachi with matching fork please!
kona have a pic of the carbon jake the snake on their facebook page